Information about Special Education Data Reports

Topic Summary

Background
Data Sources and Timelines
Overview of the DataQuest Reports
Overview of the Downloadable Data File
Special Education Enrollment Definitions
Data Suppression and Privacy
Contacts for Questions

Background

In August 2022, the California State Legislature passed Senate Bill (SB) 692 (Chapter 919, Statutes of 2022), which was subsequently signed into law, adding Sections 56049 and 56049.1 to the California Education Code. In Section 56049, the California State Legislature found and declared the following:

1. All pupils are general education pupils first, including pupils with disabilities.
   
   
2. Comprehensive local educational agency and school-level fiscal and programmatic planning, including planning conducted pursuant to Section 52064, must reflect the needs of all pupils, including pupils with disabilities.
   
   
3. Inclusion in general education classrooms and programs should be considered the first setting for all pupils, unless the individualized education program for a pupil with a disability determines that another setting is more suitable to guarantee a free and appropriate public education.
   
   
4. Data transparency and analysis are essential to understanding the needs of pupils. Local educational agencies should use all available data sources on pupils with disabilities, with a particular focus on least restrictive environment (LRE) data, to inform continuous improvement efforts.
   

The Special Education Enrollment by Program Setting report was developed pursuant to California Education Code Section 56049.1, which, beginning with academic year 2022–23, requires the California Department of Education (CDE) to publish data related to federal measures of LRE for students with disabilities, which shall also be included as a resource on the California School Dashboard. Per federal and state law, each local educational agency (LEA) must ensure that a free appropriate public education (FAPE) is provided in the LRE to every child with a disability. LRE is a requirement that students with disabilities receive their education, to the maximum extent appropriate, with other nondisabled students. [20 U.S.C. § 1412(a)(5)(A); 34 C.F.R. § 300.114; California Education Code § 56342(b).]

Data Sources and Timelines

The DataQuest Special Education Enrollment by Program Setting report and supporting downloadable data file utilize annual Census Day enrollment and related special education data submitted to the CDE by local educational agencies (LEAs) or independently reporting charter (IRC) schools through the annual Fall 1 data submission in the California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System (CALPADS). These data are submitted, reviewed, and certified in CALPADS as being accurate by authorized LEA or charter school personnel, and subsequently approved by the authorizing Special Education Local Plan Area (SELPA). To certify data in CALPADS, authorized LEA and SELPA personnel are required to review the accuracy of data associated with the applicable CALPADS submission, with final certification reserved for LEA superintendents, charter school administrators, or their designees. Moving forward, each year when the annual CALPADS Fall 1 submission closes, the CDE will extract the necessary special education enrollment data and compile this information for the DataQuest Special Education Enrollment by Program Setting report for the related academic year. Please contact the LEA or IRC if you have any questions about their certified CALPADS data.

Overview of the DataQuest Reports

The following state-wide Special Education Enrollment by Program Setting reports are publicly available on DataQuest:

• Special Education Enrollment by Program Setting
• Special Education Enrollment by Program Setting (with County Data)

These data reports provide functionality that goes significantly beyond the statutory requirements established in Education Code Section 56049.1. In addition to disaggregating the special education enrollment data by LRE, race/ethnicity, and local educational agency, these data reports and files provide the following information:

• Enrollment information for all students with disabilities aged 3 to 22 who have individualized education plans (IEPs) and who are enrolled on Census Day (the first Wednesday in October).
  
  
• Special Education Enrollment and Program Setting Data disaggregated by the following reporting categories: (1) Race/Ethnicity, (2) Disability Category, (3) Age Range, (4) Grade Span, (5) Gender, (6) English Learner status, and (7) Academic Year.
  
  
• Data disaggregated at the state, county-level, Reporting District, District of Special Education Accountability (DSEA) , and school of attendance levels.
  

Using the Special Education Enrollment Reports

The DataQuest Special Education Enrollment reports include the following expandable sections at the top of each report: (+) Report Description, (+) Report Glossary, and (+) Report Options and Filters. Within the expandable (+) Report Options and Filters section, users will find the following sub-sections that include several useful report options and data filters:

• Report Selection: Within this area, users can select different reports, select a county, district, or school, and change the report year. Users cannot select a DSEA-level report from within this area. Instead, to access DSEA-level reports, users must do so from the DataQuest homepage by selecting Level = District and Subject = Special Education.
  
  
• Data Type Options: Within this area, users can select how the data are viewed within the report by selecting one of the following options: Race/Ethnicity, Disability Category, Age Range, Grade Span, or Academic Year (Multi-Year). The default report view is by Race/Ethnicity. Within this area, users can also select entity reports that show data for all counties in the state, all districts in a county, or all schools in a district.
  
  
• Report Filters: Within this area, users can apply school type filters to display data for all schools, charter schools-only, or non-charter schools-only. Users may also select gender filters or English learner status filters, which are only available on the Academic Year (Multi-Year) view reports; however, these filters are not available on school-level reports. Additionally, for these reports, the Gender and English Learner (EL) status filters cannot be applied simultaneously; rather, only one of these filters can be applied at a time. Applied filters are viewable in the "Filtered Enabled" section above each report where the filters can also be reset. The CDE has also incorporated a report "parameterization" feature into the Special Education Enrollment reports, which allows users to share a link to a parameterized report based on selected filters.
  
  
• Display Options: Within this area, users can select how the data are displayed in the Program Setting columns on the report. The default view of the Program Setting data is as percentages of the Special Education Enrollment. The report also includes an option to see these data displayed as numbers.
  

Charter School Filters

Charter school data are removed by default from all Reporting District-level DataQuest Special Education Enrollment reports, including from the associated state and county Report Totals. To include charter school data in Reporting District-level reports, select the “Reset Filters” button on these district-level reports to show data for “All Schools” OR select the desired School Type (i.e., All Schools, Charter Schools, or Non-Charter Schools) from within the expandable Report Options and Filters menu on the report. The School Type filter is not included on the DSEA reports as this pertains to the school of attendance or enrollment, which is not relevant at the DSEA-level. Results produced using the School Type report filter on the DataQuest Special Education Enrollment reports are based on the charter school status for the academic year.

Note: The "Non-Charter" default filter view is ONLY applicable to Reporting District-level reports and the associated "Report Totals"; however, it is NOT applicable to reports or "Report Totals" for other levels (i.e., state-, county-, DSEA, or school-level reports).

District of Special Education Accountability (DSEA) Reports

The District of Special Education Accountability (DSEA) is the district responsible for ensuring that special education services are provided for a student with an Individualized Education Program (IEP) whether or not the services are provided within this district. DSEAs are sometimes different than the Reporting District (District of Attendance); however, they do not have consistent organizational relationship with the school or county of attendance where the student is enrolled. For this reason, unlike the Reporting District reports, DSEA reports do not drill down to the school-level (School of Attendance) or roll up to the county-level (County of Attendance). Additionally, DSEA reports do not include hyperlinked state, county, district, or school aggregate totals in the Report Totals section that facilitate navigating to a higher or lower report level. Similarly, unlike the Reporting District reports, the DSEA reports do not include an option in the expandable (+) Report Options and Filters section to select a different report level. Rather, the DSEA reports should be viewed separately from the Reporting District reports, which have an organizational and hierarchical relationship with the underlying school-level (School of Attendance) data and the overarching county-level (County of Attendance) data, which the DSEA does not.

Reporting District

The Reporting District is the district, county office of education, or independently reporting charter (IRC) school, where a student with an Individualized Education Program (IEP) is enrolled for the purpose of receiving special education services. In addition to providing these services, the Reporting District is also responsible for submitting, maintaining, and certifying data in CALPADS for the student.

Overview of the Downloadable Data File

The following Special Education downloadable data file is publicly available on the CDE website:

• Special Education Downloadable Data Files

This file includes data at the state, county-level, Reporting District, District of Special Education Accountability (DSEA), and school of attendance levels about SPED Enrollment by Program Setting, including Least Restrictive Environment (LRE), disaggregated by race/ethnicity, disability category, age range, grade span, gender, and English learner status. Information about the data elements included in these files and how the data are structured is included in the Special Education Downloadable File Structure web page. For detailed examples on how to properly use these data, please refer to the "Using the Special Education Data File" information provided on the file structure web page.

Special Education Enrollment Definitions

In addition to the DataQuest Special Education Enrollment by Program Setting report description and glossary, the following definitions and rules provide important information to help users understand the Special Education Enrollment data and how they were processed.

Disability Category

One of the following 13 eligible disability categories that indicates a student qualifies for and needs special education or related services pursuant to the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA): Intellectual Disability (ID), Hard of hearing (HH), Deafness (DEAF)/Hearing impairment (HI), Speech or language impairment (SLI), Visual impairment (VI), Emotional disturbance (ED), Orthopedic impairment (OI), Other health impairment (OHI), Established medical disability (EMD), Specific learning disability (SLD), Deaf-blindness (DB), Multiple disabilities (MD), Autism (AUT), and Traumatic brain injury (TBI). [34 C.F.R. § 300.8(c)]. Definitions for these disabilities can also be found in the CALPADS Code Set document located on the CALPADS System Documentation web page under the Disability Category code set and on the CALPADS Primary Disability Category Codes web page. Information about the student’s primary disability is based on data available in CALPADS as of Census Day at the selected entity

District of Special Education Accountability (DSEA)

The District of Special Education Accountability (DSEA) is the district, county office of education, or charter school that is responsible for ensuring that special education services are provided for a student with an Individualized Education Program (IEP) whether the services are provided within this district or not. For example, if a student's geographical district of residence was District A, but District A did not provide the special education service the student required, and therefore sent the student to District B to receive the service, District A would still be the District of Special Education Accountability.

General Education Participation Page

The General Education Participation Range is a numerical value representing the percentage of time a student with disabilities participates in general education. Ranges include: (1) 80 Percent or More of the Day; (2) 40 to 79 Percent of the Day; (3) 39 Percent or Less of the Day.

Least Restrictive Environment (LRE)

Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) is a requirement that students with disabilities receive their education, to the maximum extent appropriate, with other nondisabled students. Per federal and state law, each local educational agency (LEA) must ensure that a free appropriate public education (FAPE) is provided in the LRE to every child with a disability. [20 U.S.C. § 1412(a)(5)(A); 34 C.F.R. § 300.114; Cal. Education Code § 56342(b).]

Special Education Enrollment

Special Education Enrollment consists of the total number of students with disabilities aged 3 to 22 who are enrolled on Census Day (the first Wednesday in October) with a primary or short-term enrollment who have an active Individualized Education Program (IEP). Special Education Enrollment is calculated at each reporting level (e.g., state, county, district, DSEA, and school).

Special Education Program Setting

The Special Education Program Setting data provides information about the educational settings in which students with disabilities received the majority of special education and related services according to their IEP. Additionally, if the educational setting is a regular classroom in which more than 50 percent of the students are nondisabled, the report also provides the General Education Participation Percentage Range, which is a numerical value representing the percentage of time a student with disabilities participates in general education. This report includes information for the following program setting types for students with disabilities who have IEPs and who are enrolled on Census Day:

• Regular Class 80 Percent or More of the Day: A program setting where a student with disabilities participates in regular general education classroom setting, which includes at least 50 percent nondisabled students, at least 80 percent of the school day. On the report, data in these columns represent the number/percentage of the Special Education Enrollment for students whose Special Education Program Setting is Regular Classroom/Public Day School or Regular Independent Study or Virtual Charter and whose General Education Classroom Setting is Regular Class 80 Percent or More of the Day.
  
  
• Regular Class 40 to 79 Percent of the Day: A program setting where a student with disabilities participates in regular general education classroom setting, which includes at least 50 percent nondisabled students, at least 40 but no more than 79 percent (less than 80 percent) of the school day. On the report, data in these columns represent the number/percentage of the Special Education Enrollment for students whose Special Education Program Setting is Regular Classroom/Public Day School or Regular Independent Study or Virtual Charter and whose General Education Classroom Setting is Regular Class 40 to 79 Percent of the Day.
  
  
• Regular Class 39 Percent or Less of the Day: A program setting where a student with disabilities participates in regular general education classroom setting, which includes at least 50 percent nondisabled students, less than 40 percent of the school day. On the report, data in these columns represent the number/percentage of the Special Education Enrollment for students whose Special Education Program Setting is Regular Classroom/Public Day School or Regular Independent Study or Virtual Charter and whose General Education Classroom Setting is Regular Class 39 Percent or Less of the Day.
  
  
• Separate School & Other Settings: A program setting or placement where children receive special education programs and/or related services in a separate school, residential facility, homebound/hospital, correctional facility, or are parentally placed in a private school. On the report, data in these columns represent the number/percentage of the Special Education Enrollment for students whose Special Education Program Setting is Separate School, Residential Facility, Homebound/Hospital, Correctional Facility, or Parentally Placed in Private School.
  
  
• Preschool Setting: A program setting or placement where children receive special education programs and/or services in a home, regular early childhood program, separate class, or at a service provider location. On the report, data in these columns represent the number/percentage of the Special Education Enrollment for students whose Special Education Program Setting is Home, Regular Early Childhood Program, Separate Class, or Service Provider Location (various).
  
  
• Missing/Unknown: No program setting, or general education classroom setting was available for the student with disabilities at the time the data were compiled. On the report, data in these columns represent the number/percentage of the Special Education Enrollment for students whose Special Education Program Setting or General Education Classroom Setting was not reported or is unknown.
  

Data Suppression and Privacy

To protect student privacy, data may be suppressed (*) in a report based on a combination of factors. Likewise, in some instances, some data filters or report options may be unavailable on some report levels or data views to further protect student privacy. Detailed information about the data suppression rules and related report filter and data view restrictions that have been applied are provided on the Data Suppression (Special Education Enrollment by Program Setting Reports) web page.

Contacts for Questions

• Using Reports or Downloadable Files
  Data Reporting Office
  dro@cde.ca.gov
  916-327-0219
  
  
• Program or Data Content Questions
  Special Education Division
  specedinfoshare@cde.ca.gov
  916-445-4613